Cops’ timely action saves Mumbai of a 1993 repeat

The Mumbai police was in victory overdrive on Wednesday. Commissioner of Police Ranjit Singh Sharma announced that not only had the Mulund train bomb blast case been cracked, but the recent bust of a militant module had also foiled similar explosions elsewhere in the city and in some cities in Kerala.

On display were the seized arms and ammunition, including nearly 250 hand grenades, which the police seized from Padgha near Bhiwandi. Among the targets in were the Gateway of India, Mantralaya and Girgaum Chowpatty. Sharma said the explosions were being planned by the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, at the behest of the LeT.

Sharma said Noor Mohammed Abdul Ansari, picked up from Malegoan on May 10, confessed during interrogation that he had undergone extensive military training and training in explosives in Hizbul Mujahideen camps in Pakistan, in 2001.

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On his return to India, Ansari imparted weapons training to SIMI volunteer.

In a late night development, the Crime Branch said the arrested NDA professor, Anwar Ali, had provided shelter to three LeT militants in his apartment in Pune city.